State Will Seek Death Penalty in Inmate's Death

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a Cole County inmate accused of killing another inmate.

Assistant Attorney General Kevin Zoellner said Wednesday 24-year-old Terry J. Volner will face a possible death penalty if he is convicted of killing 67-year-old Jose Benitez in July while they were cellmates at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

The Jefferson City News Tribune reports no details of the attack were released in grand jury's indictment this week, or in previous reports about the case.

Benitez was serving a 25-year sentence for a first-degree statutory sodomy from Jasper County.

Volner, originally from Hartville, was serving a life sentence without parole for the 2011 murder of 4-year-old Dusty Guenther. Volner slit the boy's throat and dumped his body in a sewage lagoon.